Hey guys, I did not manage to hold my word and not to shave this morning. Do not know why, but I did some fast strokes. And have to say that shave was more comfortable than if I would go the traditional "move slowly" way. I presume this is because of the speed at which blade attacks the whiskers. No matter how I would prepare my beard (I've tried a lot of things), I experience a bit of tugging in several places with any blade. However, this morning there were no such. And the shave was smooth without a nick or irritation. I would like to hear some thoughts to the speed at which blade attacks yor hear and how it affects the shave, without referring to quality of technique, pre-shave prep and other variables. Let it be an abstract blade in a random razor in regular hands
The only thing that I have noticed is that I get more nicks. When cutting most things like wood with an axe or weeds with a machete a quick chop works better than a slow one so maybe there is something to it though.
I think it depends on the blade. The really sharp blades; feather, Astra, LORD, etc. seem to work best for me with a slower approach. The milder blades I like; Crystal, RPP, Dorco 301, etc. seem to work best with a faster stroke. Mind you, it's not a granny in a walker vs. ferrarri speed difference. I'd say a "fast" stroke takes 2/3rds the time of a slow one.
You mean slow takes 2/3rd of a fast one, e.g. T[slow] = 2/3 * T[fast]? Gotta throw in a "Feather" some time to try.
I can shave slightly faster with an injector than a DE. I think it is because the angle is already preset with the injector, and the razor is lighter than a DE. The lighter razor makes me less worried about donking (slapping) the razor on my face and getting cut.
have you guys seen that method shaving guy he saves really fast!. maybe there's something to his method.
I mean if a sharper blade has a 3 second stroke, a milder has about a 2 second stroke. Mind you I shave faster than this, but I use this as an example for the relative timing. I have used feathers (even have a couple left), but they're so different to me than any other blade I don't make many comparisons. Overall I find feathers a good blade, but not my favorite and not worth the price for me.
I tend to go fast on my first two passes (two XTG), which seems to remove the same amount of stubble, but it seems to do so with more glide than it otherwise would. I slow down for my two ATG passes, as they require much more attention to detail. I imagine there is merit to shaving quickly. If you think about the cutting action on a microscopic level, the action of the blade is to work its way in to a groove between two hair cells and essentially wedge the hair apart. It seems intuitive to me that more speed = more innertia = better cutting. I think the reason it is generally discouraged is that excessive speed can lead to reckless shaving and nasty weepers. The only time I've been cut badly while shaving was back when I was just starting out. I was going too fast with a feather in a futur. I got a nice long gash between my nose and the corner of my lip.
Alexey, every time my wife or my brother-in-law watch me when I am shaving, they think I am doing it fast, but the truth is, I really am not. I just do many short strokes.
